Protection devices for shopping carts

ABSTRACT

According to embodiments of the invention, systems, methods and devices are directed to a shopping cart with safety features which prevent or reduce the risk of injury caused to those using the cart as well as those in the vicinity of the shopping cart. A wheelbase of the shopping cart may have a set of wheels. Each wheel may have an airbag stored therein. The airbag may be deployable from any one of the wheels such the wheel is engulfed, fully or partially, within the inflated airbag. A pressure sensor may be attached to each of the wheels. The pressure sensor may constantly monitor the force being exerted in the wheel in order to identify moments when the traction may be comprised or when the cart may be at risk of toppling over. A speed or velocity sensor is attached to the wheelbase to monitor and detect for excessive speeds. The airbags may be inflatable by one or more compressed air or compressed gas cylinders or vessels.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/518,999,filed Oct. 20, 2014.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to personal safety. Specifically, thisinvention relates providing a safety mechanism for use in preventinginjuries and/or accidents involving shopping carts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many studies have found that there is a growing number of accidentsinvolving shopping carts. For example, children sitting in shoppingcarts may get hurt when they fall out of the carts. Also, when theshopping carts are going fast, some types of carts may be less unstableso that any vertical pressure on the handle will flip the cart overbackward. The scenario is more likely to happen if there is a childseated in a seating position near the back of the cart because it raisesthe center of gravity and may cause the cart to flip over backward muchmore easily. Even something as simple as another child pulling on thehandle or a bag hanging from the handle may be dangerous enough to flipthe cart. Because of the potential harm that may cause severe injuriesto children, parents need to be increasingly vigilant when children arein or around a shopping cart.

Additionally, there are supermarkets looking for ways to improve safetyof shopping carts so that consumers can be assured shop safely withchildren without the risk, no matter how slight the possibility, ofhaving a child injured by shopping carts. Some may suggest puttingwarning labels on the carts while others promote utilizing safety beltsas mandatory measures. Liability for shopping cart-related injuries hasbeen pinned on the storeowners, thus storeowners may seek increasedsafety with respect to their shopping carts.

Therefore, it is an objective of the disclosed technology to provide ashopping cart that addresses the aforementioned safety concerns, andprovide a less dangerous shopping experience for those with smallchildren or babies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to embodiments of the invention, systems, methods and devicesare directed to a shopping cart with safety features that prevent orreduce the risk of injury caused to those using the cart as well asthose in the vicinity of the shopping cart. A wheelbase of the shoppingcart may have a set of wheels. Each wheel may have an airbag storedtherein. The airbag may be deployable from any one of the wheels suchthe wheel is engulfed, fully or partially, within the inflated airbag. Apressure sensor may be attached to each of the wheels. The pressuresensor may constantly monitor the force being exerted in the wheel inorder to identify moments when the traction may be comprised or when thecart may be at risk of toppling over. A speed or velocity sensor isattached to the wheelbase to monitor and detect for excessive speeds.The airbags may be inflatable by one or more compressed air orcompressed gas cylinders or vessels.

In an embodiment of the disclosed invention, a shopping cart is equippedwith safety features to prevent injuries. The features may reduce thespeed of the cart, reduce the shock of impact of the cart with theground or another object, or maintain control during a loss of balanceor speed of the cart. A “shopping cart”, “shopping trolley, “cart”,and/or “trolley” for purposes of this specification, is defined as anydevice or apparatus used to temporarily transport goods using a storingportion and a wheel or other friction reducing mechanism.

The shopping cart may have one or more of the following components: a) aseat attached to the shopping cart for a child; b) a wheelbase having aset of wheels, each wheel having an airbag stored therein such thatactivation of the airbags causes the corresponding wheels to be embeddedinside the airbags; c) a pressure sensor attached to each of the wheelsfor monitoring the pressure of the wheels on the ground to detect anypossibility of the shopping cart falling over; d) a speed sensorattached to the wheelbase for monitoring the velocity of the shoppingcart to detect excessive speeds; and e) a vessel of compressed gas,wherein the gas is injectable into one or more of the airbags.

In a further embodiment, the speed sensor detects when the shopping cartis starting to accelerate to an excessive speed and injects the gas intoall the airbags causing the airbags to be expanded. Still further, thepressure sensor may detect lighter pressure on a wheel, therebyindicating a rollover risk, and injects the denser gas into the airbagassociated with the wheel causing the associated airbag to be expandedto maintain balance.

A “rollover” of the shopping cart occurs when the shopping cart fallsfrontwards, backwards or to the sides, during which one or more wheelslose contact with the ground. An ensuing rollover may be detectableusing the combined readings of the pressure sensors associated with thewheels. For example, if the pressure or force exerted on one or twowheels becomes suddenly increased, while the pressure or force on theopposing one or two wheels suddenly decreases, then the shopping cartmay be currently rolling over or about to roll over. If the shoppingcart starts to roll over as detected by the pressure sensors, then thefollowing steps may be taken, not necessarily in the following order: a)the seat is detached and ejected from the shopping cart; b) the airbagis filled with a lighter-than-air gas or substance; c) the seat becomessuspended in the air due to the lighter gas; and d) a parent is notifiedof a location of the seat using a location detector. In an alternativeembodiment, the airbag may be inflated with a denser-than-air materialor gas, in order to weigh down that portion of the cart.

In another embodiment of the disclosed technology, a method is used forpreventing injuries and accidents with respect to a shopping cart. Inthis embodiment, the shopping cart has a plurality of wheels, each wheelhaving a corresponding un-inflated airbag. The method may be carriedout, not necessarily in the following order, by: a) continuouslymonitoring readings taken from pressure sensors and a velocity sensordisposed on the shopping cart, wherein the pressure sensors measures apressure of each of the plurality of wheels with respect to the ground,and further wherein the velocity sensor measures a velocity of theshopping cart; b) detecting when a threshold pressure change or athreshold velocity is reached; and c) triggering activation of one ormore of the plurality of airbags to minimize injury and damage.

Further, the triggering of airbags may correspond to feedback detectedfrom the pressure sensors such that the airbags are inflated withrespect to the wheels that are experiencing the highest pressure levels.Still further, if the pressure sensors detect a pressure high enough topose a rollover risk to the shopping cart, a seat disposed on theshopping card is ejected from the cart and seat airbags associated withthe seat are inflated. The volume of the seat airbags may be sufficientto cause the seat to become suspended when the seat airbags are filledwith a lighter-than-air gas.

In still another embodiment of the disclosed technology, a shopping carthas features for preventing injuries caused to others nearby. Theshopping cart may have one or more of the following components: a) aseat attached to the shopping cart allowing a child to sit upon; b) awheelbase containing a set of wheels, each wheel having an airbag storedinside the wheel, so that when the airbag is activated anyone of the setof wheels can be embedded inside the airbags; c) a pressure sensorattached to each of the wheels, wherein by monitoring pressure of eachof the wheels off the ground the pressure sensor can detect any tendencycausing a flip over of the shopping cart; d) a speed sensor attached tothe wheelbase, wherein the speed sensor detects any speed limitviolations; e) a bottle of gas denser than air, wherein the denser aircan be injected into the respective airbag stored inside the wheelselectively, so that when needed one of the wheels can be embeddedinside an airbag whereas the rest of wheels are airbags unaffected orfree.

If the speed sensor detects that the shopping cart is starting toaccelerate to a point that seems over the limit, then the cart may beslowed down by injecting the denser gas into all the airbags causing theairbag to be expanded, slowing down the shopping cart. Upon detectingthat a flip over or rollover of the shopping cart is starting to occuras indicated by the pressure sensor detecting lighter pressure on awheel, the denser gas may be injected into the airbag associated withthe wheel causing the associated airbag to be expanded, while givingweight to the side that is about to be off the ground and providingsufficient balance to the shopping cart. Finally, the current locationof the child may be detected using a GPS receiver and sending thecurrent location of the child to a parent or user of the shopping cartusing an antenna or wireless network card.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the invention will now be described with particularreference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a shopping cart in a normal, resting position according toan embodiment of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 2 shows a shopping cart beginning to lose control according to anembodiment of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3 shows a shopping cart rolling over and an airbag deployedaccording to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 4 is a high-level block diagram of a microprocessor device that maybe used to carry out the disclosed technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to embodiments of the invention, systems, methods and devicesare directed to a shopping cart with safety features that prevent orreduce the risk of injury caused to those using the cart as well asthose in the vicinity of the shopping cart. A wheelbase of the shoppingcart may have a set of wheels. Each wheel may have an airbag storedtherein. The airbag may be deployable from any one of the wheels suchthe wheel is engulfed, fully or partially, within the inflated airbag. Apressure sensor may be attached to each of the wheels. The pressuresensor may constantly monitor the force being exerted in the wheel inorder to identify moments when the traction may be comprised or when thecart may be at risk of toppling over. A speed or velocity sensor isattached to the wheelbase to monitor and detect for excessive speeds.The airbags may be inflatable by one or more compressed air orcompressed gas cylinders or vessels.

In further embodiments, the shopping cart may have a seat, and maydetect when a child is sitting in a seat portion of the shopping cart.Upon detecting an ensuing accident or rollover, the shopping cart mayeject the seat and deploy additional airbags which are stored in or onthe seat. The airbags may be used to soften any landing or collisionwith the ground or another object. Further, the seat-based airbags maybe inflated with lighter-than-air gas from a compressed gas vessel. Theinflated airbag may float in mid-air or reduce the velocity of the seatas it approaches the ground or another object.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a shopping cart in a normal,resting position according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.The shopping cart 100 (hereinafter referred to as ‘shopping cart 100’ or‘cart 100’, these terms may be used interchangeably) is generallycomposed of a top basket portion 102 and a wheelbase 104. A “shoppingcart”, “shopping trolley, “cart”, and/or “trolley” for purposes of thisspecification, is defined as any device or apparatus used to temporarilytransport goods using a storing portion and a wheel or other frictionreducing mechanism. The wheelbase 104 has a plurality of wheels affixedthereto. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the wheelbase 104 has fourwheels, 110, 120, 130 and 140 (not shown). The cart 100 may also have aseat 106 for a child or infant. According to disclosed technology, theseat 106 may be detachable or ejectable from the shopping cart 100. Theseat 106 may have its own uninflated airbags disposed on or in the seat.The seat 106 may also have a safety strap or belt for securing a childto the seat 106 to prevent the child from falling out of the seat.

Although not visible in the shown position of the cart 100, each wheelhas a deflated airbag stored therein. Additionally, one or more sensorsmay be disposed on each of the wheels and/or other portions of the cart.A pressure sensor may be disposed on each wheel to measure the pressureof the wheel with respect to the ground. During normal operatingconditions, the pressure on each of the wheel should remain fairlyconstant and should be the same for each of the back wheels 110 & 120,as well as each of the front wheels 130 & 140, depending on weightdistribution of objects within the basket portion 102 of the cart 100.

FIG. 2 shows a shopping cart beginning to lose control according to anembodiment of the disclosed technology. In this position, the pressureon the right side wheels 120 & 130, will be much higher than thepressure on the left side wheels 110 & 140, which may even be reduced tozero. In the position depicted, the back left wheel 110 is shownstarting to come off the ground. At this point, the sensors would detecta pressure imbalance and therefore an increase in rollover risk. Assuch, the cart 100 may take remedial measures to prevent or reduce theseverity of the rollover. Such measure may include automatic shifting ofweight by inflating the left wheels with a denser-than-air material orgas. Alternatively, the right side airbags may be deployed to cause theright wheels to slow down or stop, or to reduce the shock of impact onthe right side if the cart 100 flips over.

FIG. 3 shows a shopping cart rolling over and an airbag deployedaccording to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. In the depictedposition, the airbag 111 associated with the back left wheel 110 isdeployed and inflated. In this example, the airbag 111 is filled withdense air, gas, or material in order to add weight to the left side ofthe cart 100 to counter the ensuing rollover and maintain a balance.

The cart 100 may also have numerous other electronic and/or computingcomponents on a portion thereof. A set of integrated circuits associatedwith the cart 100 may be programmable to make decisions based onartificial intelligence and feedback related to the sensors and/or thewheels. “Artificial intelligence”, for purposes of this specification,is defined as the ability of computer systems to perform tasks thatnormally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speechrecognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

A location component, such as a Global Positioning System (“GPS”)receiver may also be included in the cart 100 and/or the seat. Further,a SIM card may be installed in the cart 100 and/or the seat. The SIMcard may send information to a user of the cart 100 instantly. Theinformation may include the location of the seat and/or the cart 100 inthe event of an accident. The cart 100 may also have an antenna orwireless network card for communicating via a wireless network such as apacket-switched data network, Wi-Fi network, or a near-fieldcommunication network.

The cart 100 may also have an associated processor and memory. Thememory stores instructions that cause the processor to execute one ormore methods. The method may be carried out, not necessarily in thefollowing order, by: a) continuously monitoring readings taken frompressure sensors and a velocity sensor disposed on the shopping cart,wherein the pressure sensors measures a pressure of each of theplurality of wheels with respect to the ground, and further wherein thevelocity sensor measures a velocity of the shopping cart; b) detectingwhen a threshold pressure change or a threshold velocity is reached; andc) triggering activation of one or more of the plurality of airbags tominimize injury and damage.

In a further embodiment, the speed sensor detects when the shopping cartis starting to accelerate to an excessive speed and injects the gas intoall the airbags causing the airbags to be expanded. Still further, thepressure sensor may detect lighter pressure on a wheel, therebyindicating a rollover risk, and injects the denser gas into the airbagassociated with the wheel causing the associated airbag to be expandedto maintain balance.

A “rollover” of the shopping cart occurs when the shopping cart fallsfrontwards, backwards or to the sides, during which one or more wheelslose contact with the ground. An ensuing rollover may be detectableusing the combined readings of the pressure sensors associated with thewheels. For example, if the pressure or force exerted on one or twowheels becomes suddenly increased, while the pressure or force on theopposing one or two wheels suddenly decreases, then the shopping cartmay be currently rolling over or about to roll over. If the shoppingcart starts to roll over as detected by the pressure sensors, then thefollowing steps may be taken, not necessarily in the following order: a)the seat is detached and ejected from the shopping cart; b) the airbagis filled with a lighter-than-air gas or substance; c) the seat becomessuspended in the air due to the lighter gas; and d) a parent is notifiedof a location of the seat using a location detector. In an alternativeembodiment, the airbag may be inflated with a denser-than-air materialor gas, in order to weigh down that portion of the cart.

FIG. 4 is a high-level block diagram of a microprocessor device that maybe used to carry out the disclosed technology. The device 300 may or maynot be a computing device. The device 300 comprises a microchip (alsoreferred to as “a smart chip”) and/or processor 350 that controls theoverall operation of a computer by executing the reader's programinstructions which define such operation. The device's programinstructions may be stored in a storage device 320 (e.g., magnetic disk,database) and loaded into memory 330 when execution of the console'sprogram instructions is desired. Thus, the device's operation will bedefined by its program instructions stored in memory 330 and/or storage320, and the console will be controlled by the processor 350 executingthe console's program instructions.

The device 300 may also include one or a plurality of input networkinterfaces for communicating with other devices via a network (e.g., theinternet). The device 300 further includes an electrical input interfacefor receiving power and data from a power or wireless data source. Thedevice 300 may also include one or more output network interfaces 310for communicating with other devices. The device 300 may also includeinput/output 340 representing devices which allow for user interactionwith a computer (e.g., display, keyboard, mouse, speakers, buttons,etc.).

One skilled in the art will recognize that an implementation of anactual device will contain other components as well, and that FIG. 4 isa high level representation of some of the components of such a devicefor illustrative purposes. It should also be understood by one skilledin the art that the devices depicted and described with respect to FIGS.1 through 3 may be implemented on a device such as is shown in FIG. 4.Thus, the device 300 of FIG. 4 may describe the inner workings of thecart 100 and/or any of its sensors or components.

While the disclosed invention has been taught with specific reference tothe above embodiments, a person having ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departingfrom the spirit and the scope of the invention. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. All changes that come within the meaning and rangeof equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.Combinations of any of the methods, systems, and devices describedhereinabove are also contemplated and within the scope of the invention.

1. A shopping cart, comprising: at least three wheels, wherein each ofthe wheels has an airbag associated therewith, further wherein eachairbag is deployable in proximity of each wheel; a pressure sensorattached to each of the wheels for continuously monitoring the pressureof the wheels on the ground, wherein the pressure sensor detects anydisparities in pressure between the at least three wheels; a speedsensor associated with the shopping cart for monitoring the velocity ofthe shopping cart; and a vessel having a compressed fluid, wherein thefluid is injectable into one or more of the airbags.
 2. The shoppingcart of claim 1, further comprising: a seat for a child or infant,wherein the seat has an inflatable bag embedded therein.
 3. The shoppingcart of claim 1, wherein the speed sensor detects when the shopping cartis starting to accelerate to an excessive speed and injects fluid intoone or more of the airbags.
 4. The shopping cart of claim 1, whereindetected disparities in pressure causes injection of fluid into theairbag associated with the wheel experiencing the highest pressure. 5.The shopping cart of claim 1, wherein detected disparities in pressurecauses injection of fluid into the airbag associated with the wheelexperiencing the lowest pressure.
 6. The shopping cart of claim 1,wherein detected disparities in pressure cause: the seat to be detachedand ejected from the shopping cart; the inflatable bag embedded in theseat to be inflated with fluid; and the seat to be suspended in the airdue to the fluid.
 7. A method of preventing shopping cart accidents,wherein a shopping cart has a plurality of wheels, each wheel having acorresponding uninflated airbag, the method comprising the followingsteps: detecting disparities in pressure between the wheels using aplurality of pressure sensors, each pressure sensor associated with oneof the wheels; detecting increases in velocity using a velocity sensordisposed on the shopping cart; and triggering activation of one or moreof the plurality of airbags in response to detected disparities inpressure and/or increases in velocity.
 8. The method of claim 6, whereinthe triggering of airbags corresponds to feedback detected from thepressure sensors such that the airbags are inflated with respect to thewheels which are experiencing the highest pressure levels.
 9. The methodof claim 6, wherein if the pressure sensors detect a pressure highenough to pose a rollover risk to the shopping cart, a seat disposed onthe shopping cart is ejected and inflatable bags associated with theseat are inflated.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the volume of theinflatable bags is sufficient to cause the seat to become suspended whenthe inflatable bags are filled with a lighter-than-air fluid.
 11. Ashopping cart with features preventing injuries caused to others nearby,comprising: a seat attached to the shopping cart; a plurality of wheels,each wheel has an airbag stored inside the wheel, such that when anairbag is activated any one of the wheels becomes embedded inside acorresponding airbag; a pressure sensor attached to each of the wheelswherein the pressure sensors determine a likelihood of the shopping cartfalling over; a speed sensor attached to the shopping cart for measuringvelocity; a vessel containing fluid that is denser than air, wherein thefluid is selectively injectable into the airbags associated with thewheels such that the wheel becomes embedded therein.
 12. The shoppingcart of claim 11, wherein the speed sensor detects whether the shoppingcarts velocity is increasing to an unsafe level and takes the followingsteps: slowing down the shopping cart by injecting the fluid into allthe airbags causing the airbags to be expanded; and upon detecting thatthe shopping cart is coming close to falling over as indicated by thepressure sensor detecting lighter pressure on a wheel, injecting thefluid into the airbag associated with the wheel causing the associatedairbag to be expanded.
 13. The shopping cart of claim 12, wherein: theseat is ejectable from the shopping cart such that, upon ejection, aninflatable bag disposed in the seat inflates to suppress velocity andimpact.
 14. The shopping cart of claim 13, further comprising: a GPSreceiver associated with the seat for detecting a current location ofthe seat and sending the information to a user wirelessly.